In the growing and competitive world of startups, individuality is key: in retaining employees, in signing work with clients, and at imes, dealing with long, busy days. For data company BlueCore, moving offices not only signified that those extended hours
were paying off, but also that they were coming home. Nestled in
Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the startup has been working with Justin
Huxol of HUXHUX Design to put its stamp on the building which once
stood as a speakeasy. The four-level raw building has a mix of open
offices, communal spaces, private phone booths, and quirky meeting
rooms named for spots around the neighborhood in which they reside.

In putting its fingerprint on the building and community, color was
taken into consideration. Looking through a small glass door while
touring the office, a woman from sales was seen bathed in a vibrant
green; down the hall, a meeting let out washed in yellow. Color radiated,
but never overtook the space.

We sat down with Huxol to discuss the location and use of color,
and how both are boosting this new wave of office as space to roam.

interiors+sources: How did you become involved in the process?

JUSTIN HUXOL: [BlueCore] first contacted me when they were looking for
spaces on the Lower East Side to do their interior design work. So early
on, when they had finally secured the space, they did a walk-through
and I gave them a nod—enthusiastically—that this was a great space.

It basically started by trying to understand who they were and what
made them tick as a group. A lot of times, you think of a tech startup
as a generic category where everyone likes to have a quirky space, and
everyone starts talking about Google. But for me, it’s more interesting to
By Kadie Yale | Photography by Udomfoto

PAINTINGTHE[DOWN] TOWN BLUE

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT The second
floor houses the kitchen—where
lunch is provided daily—and eating
spaces, which often double as a place
to hold meetings. Looking down from
the kitchen, the foyer, hedged by a
custom-made wallpaper designed and
produced by HUXHUX using BlueCore’s
logo, provides ample seating for guests
and employees alike. Looking over the
foyer, a standing-height counter was
installed. The third floor boasts the use
of the original wood flooring, and is
an open office plan ringed by unique
meeting and phone booth rooms.